Trolley days: El Paso transit veteran shares career memories

Michael Slaman recalled the last day the cross-border trolleys ran between El Paso and Juárez.

"It was at 6 p.m. on Sept. 4, 1974," said the former city superintendent of transportation and international bridges supervisor. "It was a hard feeling. The main reason the service ended was because the merchants in Juárez complained that they were losing business because the trolleys were bringing all the shoppers to El Paso."

Slaman was responsible for moving 10,000 to 12,000 people each day on the trolleys.

"Most of them were commuters. Up to 90 people could fit in a streetcar, more than you could get on a bus," he said. "Back then, people seemed happier. The passengers did not grumble or complain."

Slaman, 91, worked in public transit for 35 years, 23 of them with the city of El Paso. He worked under five of the city's mayors, from Raymond Telles to Jonathan Rogers.

His supporters are petitioning the city to name the Sun Metro bus transfer center in Northeast El Paso after him. Sun Metro spokeswoman Laura Cruz-Acosta said the city received a petition for Slaman, and will consider it along with any others.

"The process for naming the center is pending," she said.

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Slaman said that at times there were trolley malfunctions and derailments, and even intentional "falls" by passengers trying to get money by suing the company.

"We had two lawyers in Juárez who handled these cases for us," Slaman said.

The cross-border trolleys rode over a 3-mile circuit that ran from the J.C. Penney store on San Antonio Street in Downtown El Paso to Avenida 16 de Septiembre in Juárez and back.

"We had 17 streetcars that ran 10 minutes apart during the rush hours," he said.

Slaman, a native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, began his transportation career in 1950 as a bus driver for National City Lines in Iowa. The Chicago-based firm later transferred him to oversee its trolley and bridge operations in El Paso-Juárez until the company discontinued that part of its operations.

"The company (National City Lines) first put me up at the Gateway Hotel across from J.C. Penney. I asked for a change after a bellhop told me that knotted rope from the fourth floor window was the 'fire escape,' " he said. "Then, they put me up at the Del Camino, which I loved. I found out then that the two insects I saw at the hotel were called 'cucarachas.' "

"I was discharged from the Army after I injured my back when I got thrown off a (military) horse," he said.

While in the service, he was photographed standing in front of a U.S. map that marked off all the different places his relatives worked and lived. In the photo, he is pointing to El Paso on the map, not realizing then that years later he, his wife and four children would end up here.

Slaman held other jobs before resuming his work in public transit, including at the Ford Motor Co., at a munitions plant and at the Shaeffer Pen Co.

After his work with the trolleys ended, he continued to supervise the bridges and became a supervisor for the city's Sun City Area Transit (SCAT), known now as Sun Metro.

He also said there were economic reasons behind the international bridges going from a flat design to an arch.

"Most people don't know this, but the main reason the new bridges were arched was so that more cars could fit on them," he said. "For example, you might have 10 cars on a flat bridge, but with an arched bridge you could have 30 cars on there. They were smart. This happened during the John F. Kennedy administration."

Slaman said public transit bus services are successful when buses run frequently, and use a zone pricing method to stay competitive.

For example, he said, El Paso used to have a popular 24-hour bus service that operated between Fort Bliss and Downtown.

Jonathan Rogers, the former mayor, signed a certificate of appreciation that the city gave Slaman in 1985, which said, "Mr. Slaman's dedicated service reflects great credit upon himself and the City of El Paso."

In 1989, Rogers appointed him to the Transportation Committee due to Slaman's leadership in civic affairs.

Ten years before that Slaman was appointed to fill the position of Sun City Area Transit's superintendent of operations at a salary of $17,931.

"That was a lot of money back then," he said.

After he retired from the city in 1985, Slaman worked as a volunteer van operator for elderly residents.

He also received a recognition from Texas Gov. Rick Perry for his various volunteer efforts for senior citizens.

"I'm of Lebanese background, and after I retired I became a volunteer bus driver for the Jewish Community Center for 22 years," Slaman said.

"It was a job I loved because it brought me into contact with people from different backgrounds and ethnicities. My father had a grocery store, and he paid an African-American midwife $2.50 to deliver me on Feb. 29, 1920, a leap year."

Ellen Daugherty, the Chai Manor administrator, and Sylvia Cohen, who hired Slaman to drive the Jewish Community Center's van, said Slaman took a personal interest in the needs of senior citizens.

"He was a wonderful man and a very safe driver for us," Daugherty said.

Cohen, who agreed, said, "We were like a family. Mike took the residents to their doctor's appointments, and to other places and events."

These days, the former public transit administrator writes poetry, some of it dedicated to his late wife, Mary Slaman.

He has put together a collection of his writings and philosophy in a text titled "Prose 'n' Things."

Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6140.